1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to racks used for displaying boxes of goods, especially boxes which contain a plurality of smaller product packages.
2. Description of Related Art
It is commonly known that there is a need to properly display retail goods for sale. This need encompasses the desire of the retailer to display goods in an efficient and economical manner which is clean, neat and highly visible to potential consumers. One type of display rack which is commonly used involves downwardly-inclined trays which provide a gravity feed so that the product slides to the front, and most visible, portion of the display. This type of rack is especially useful in the situation where either small goods or small boxes of goods are being displayed. The ability to display goods is, however, tempered by the reality of space limitations in retail outlets and the difficulties in loading racks with product. In addition, it is important that the manufacture and loading of the display rack be as efficient and economical as possible. With regard to loading, it is important that the display be capable of quick, simple loading. Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide a display rack which would display goods in a clean, neat and visible manner, yet would not require an unwieldy amount of retail space and would be simple to manufacture and load.
A number of existing patents disclose various forms of display racks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,944, issued to March, discloses a collapsible display rack having downwardly-extending shelves. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,699, issued to Trevaskis, discloses a display stand for selling boxed merchandise in which the trays are movable from a horizontal to a downward position. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,257, issued to Schum, discloses a modular self-service merchandise display rack having a plurality of downwardly-inclined shelf-like tiers. While all of the known display racks provide various features, none provide the combination of factors which include ease of loading and manufacture, economization of retail space and neat presentation of the goods which are in relatively small packages. Consequently, it would be advantageous to describe a display rack which provides the combination of desireable factors set forth above.